Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Metro State went 2-1 on Friday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament to advance to the final three teams in the tournament. The Roadrunners fell 5-0 to Fort Lewis, before earning a pair of mercy-rule wins, topping Chadron State 9-1 (six innings) and Adams State 13-5 (five innings). They improved to 29-15 overall with the wins and will face UC-Colorado Springs at noon on Saturday in Grand Junction, Colo., in an elimination game to advance to the championship in the double-elimination tournament.

Dani Sandel (Omaha, Neb./Westside H.S.) had six hits on the day, including a 4-for-4 performance against ASU in the nightcap. Kelsey Tillery (Windsor, Colo./Windsor H.S.) had five hits and added two doubles to bring her total this season to 28, just three shy of tying the NCAA Division II single-season mark. She also added her third home run of the year.

Cassidy Smith (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) combined to throw 11 innings and allowed just six hits, one walk and one run. She earned the victory in both wins.

The Skyhawks jumped on top for three runs in the top of the first inning of the first game and MSU Denver could not recover. The Roadrunners had just five hits in the game.

After going scoreless for two innings against Chadron State, the Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third before Metro State exploded out of its hitting slump. It scored two in the bottom of the third, one in the fifth and six in the sixth to end the game. Sandel finished 2-for-3 with four runs batted in. Tillery and Colissa Bakovich (Loveland, Colo./Loveland H.S.) each had two hits. Smith pitched all six innings, scattering four hits with two strikeouts.

The hot bats continued against ASU in the late game that finished around 10:45 p.m. The Roadrunners had 18 hits, their second-highest total of the season. Sandel stayed hot with four more hits in four at bats, including a pair of doubles. Towner and Kaylynn Harmon (Erie, Colo./Erie H.S.) each went 3-for-4 and Harmon had three RBIs and two triples, tying a school record. Tillery, Bakovich and Britney Thomas (Cheyenne, Wyo./East H.S.) each had two hits. Tillery also drove in four runs and had a home run and a double.

Tillery highlighted a six-run second inning with a three-run home run and Sandel and Bakovich each had an RBI double in the inning. Harmon hit a two-run triple during a three-run fourth inning and the game ended on a sacrifice fly by Aubree Maul (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain H.S.).

Smith came on in relief against Adams State to throw three shutout innings, allowing one hit with one strikeout.